Mendoza & Western Argentina

Argentina's best wines (and indeed some of South America's finest wines), are from the region of Mendoza. Wine tours are the most popular reason to travel to Mendoza, but the region has the added attraction of some fantastic Andean scenery nearby.

Mendoza City

Mendoza is an attractive modern city with many museums, plazas and parks that can be visited. Day tours into the beautiful Andes can also be booked through local tour operatos. The Park Hyatt is the best luxury hotel in Mendoza, but it's better to head out of town to stay in a more rural hotel - try the luxury Cavas Wine Lodge, one of Argentina's best, or Tapiz Hotel.

Wine Tours

Many bodegas / vineyards welcome visitors, Bodega la Rural (San Felipe) being one of the best. Other excellent Bodegas near Mendoza include Carinae and Bodegas Escorihuela. Near Lujan de Cuyo are more fine wines and bodegas such as Septima, Catena Zapata, Norton and Achaval Ferrer.

Travel South from Mendoza

Travel 250km South from Mendoza to San Rafael, a pretty small town with other bodeagas in the wine growing region nearby. Nearby Canon de Atuel is an ideal location for rafting tours in Argentina. A further 180km southwest of San Rafael is one of Argentina's best ski resorts at Las Lenas. Further South still is Malargue, a region offering good hiking and horseback riding tours.

Travel West into Chile

The trip through the Andes from Mendoza (Argentina) to Santiago (Chile) is very scenic a one rises high through the Andes. The road is often blocked during the winter, so check in advance. Those who don't like long road journeys can always catch a flight - LAN Argentina flies from Mendoza to Santiago.

If you don't want to travel into Chile, head East from Mendoza to Argentina's second largest city, Cordoba (the surrounding mountains are ideal for adventure tourism) or travel onwards to Buenos Aires. There are occasional flights to both Cordoba and more frequent ones to Buenos Aires with Aerolineas Argentinas.

A vineyard near Mendoza, with Argentina's Andes range in the background.